On Thursday, April 25, the Biden-Harris administration announced that the United States Department of Commerce and Micron Technology signed a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms to provide up to $6.14 billion in CHIPS and Science Act funding to help build Micron’s semiconductor facilities in upstate New York and Idaho. The proposed funding is expected to create approximately 20,000 construction jobs, including union sheet metal positions for SMART members.
“Today’s announcement of proposed funding for Micron’s semiconductor fabrication facilities in New York and Idaho would essentially amount to a multi-billion-dollar investment in SMART members,” SMART General President Michael Coleman said in response. “Thanks to the CHIPS and Science Act — a groundbreaking, pro-worker bill that is already creating jobs for our members from coast to coast — these project labor agreement-covered megaprojects would bring even more union sheet metal workers onto the jobsite, as well as create more opportunities for local residents to enter a middle-class career in our trade. We applaud the Biden administration and the Department of Commerce for continuing to invest in America’s workers, and we look forward to getting to work.”